Silence, Pulpits, and Jimmy Fallon

On Monday night, Jimmy Fallon opened his show with a beautiful monologue. You can watch it here.

Jimmy was not his typical jovial self, making jokes and trying (unsuccessfully) to stifle his own laughter. He was somber, sharing boldly and kindly about the recent events in Charlottesville. The Roots were quiet, the audience hushed. No one clapped when he went to commercial. His studio a sacred space where truth was spoken.

I wish I could have been in the audience. I wish I could have witnessed live this TV personality using his platform to call out sin, to remind us that hatred against POC has no place in our country, our communities, our schools, our homes.

This weekend, I learned that many of the white pastors in our local churches made no mention of Charlottesville. No mention of this blatant act of racism (at the largest white nationalist rally in 20 years), this obvious display of hate that runs so deep in our country. No time for lament on behalf of the violence and blood shed.

I’m struggling with the silence from the pulpit. I am angered, grieved. And left to wonder whether my own brown kids are welcome in this area, especially now in our places of public worship. Sure, they’re adorable babies. I hear the random comments about their “gorgeous skin and hair”. But this silence on Charlottesville makes me wonder what this white community really thinks of them.

Racism is here and has been for years. Choosing to remain silent on this ongoing issue does not deny the reality that the KKK has an active presence in this area. The East Coast Knights of the True Invisible Empire are based out of Rising Sun with recent events happening just over the Maryland border into Pennsylvania. This local group has a PO Box at our post office and is part of the American Alliance of Klans, which started in March of 2017. A chilling statement comes directly from their website: “We agree that the Klan is a white Christian order and will not accept anyone with non-white blood”.​

Who better to address this hatred than white pastors from their pulpits? The very men who claim faith in a God who made all people in His image?

The bigotry is here. Right here. In my small town. And local church leaders were quiet when they should have raised their voices. They missed a perfect opportunity to publicly acknowledge this sin, to pray for Charlottesville, and to invite dialogue, especially with those of color.

I have to ask:

• Why the silence?
• Would 5 minutes of prayer [for Charlottesville] interrupt the “flow of the service”?
• Was the silence due to complacency? Ignorance?
• Was the silence born out of fear of ruffling white feathers?
• Was the silence rooted in contentment with our racially homogeneous congregations?

Without a word from our local church leaders, I am left to guess the answers to my questions. I am left to interpret their silence as a shrug. I am left to believe that their refusal to mention this very public hatred as nothing more than a difference of political opinion. I am left to wonder whether my family really has a place in this community.

I hope local pastors watch this famous TV personality and take some notes on how to more effectively use their platform to condemn racism (as they do other sins) and the roots it has here in our community.